BUSINESS LAW - CHAPTER 4 (Torts and Cyber Torts)

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Tort

A wrongful act (other than a breach of contract) that results in harm or injury to another and leads to civil liability.

Cyber Tort

A tort committed in cyberspace.

Assault

Any word or action intended to make another person fearful of immediate physical harm—a reasonably believable threat.

Battery

Unexcused, harmful or offensive, physical contact with another that is intentionally performed.

False Imprisonment

Defamation

Anything published or publicly spoken that causes injury to another’s good name, reputation, or character.

Libel

Defamation in writing or another form having the quality of permanence (such as a digital recording).

Slander

Defamation in oral form.

Intrusion

public disclosure of
private facts

Appropriation

In tort law, the use by one person of another person’s name, likeness, or other identifying characteristic without permission and for the benefit of the user.

Fraud

Any misrepresentation knowingly made with the intention of deceiving another for the purpose of obtaining property or funds.

Puffery

A salesperson’s often exaggerated claims concerning the quality of property offered for sale. Such claims involve opinions rather than facts and are not legally binding promises or warranties.

Trespass to land

Entry onto, above, or below the surface of land owned by another without the owner’s permission or legal authorization.

Trespass to Personal Property

Wrongfully taking or harming the personal property of another or otherwise interfering with the lawful owner’s possession of personal property.

Conversion

Wrongfully taking or retaining possession of an individual’s personal property and placing it in the service of another.

Disparagement

An economically injurious falsehood about another’s product or property.

Negligence

The failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise in similar circumstances.

Duty of care

The duty of all persons, as established by tort law, to exercise a reasonable amount of care in their dealings with others. Failure to exercise due care, which is normally determined by the reasonable person standard, constitutes the tort of negligence.

Reasonable Person Standard

The standard of behavior expected of a hypothetical “reasonable person.” It is the standard against which negligence is measured and that must be observed to avoid liability for negligence.

Malpractice

Professional misconduct or the lack of the requisite degree of skill as a professional. Negligence—the failure to exercise due care—on the part of a professional, such as a physician, is commonly referred to as malpractice.

Causation in fact

An act or omission without which an event would not have occurred.

Proximate Cause

Legal cause. It exists when the connection between an act and an injury is strong enough to justify imposing liability.

Assumption of Risk

A defense to negligence. A plaintiff may not recover for injuries or damage suffered from risks he or she knows of and has voluntarily assumed.

Contributory Negligence

A rule in tort law, used in only a few states, that completely bars the plaintiff from recovering any damages if the damage suffered is partly the plaintiff’s own fault.

Comparative Negligence

A rule in tort law, used in the majority of states, that reduces the plaintiff’s recovery in proportion to the plaintiff’s degree of fault, rather than barring recovery completely.

Res Ipsa Loquitur

A doctrine under which negligence may be inferred simply because an event occurred, if it is the type of event that would not occur in the absence of negligence. Literally, the term means “the facts speak for themselves.”

Negligence per se

An action or failure to act in violation of a statutory requirement.

Good Samaritan Statute

A state statute stipulating that persons who provide emergency services to, or rescue, someone in peril cannot be sued for negligence unless they act recklessly, thereby causing further harm.

Dram Shop Act

A state statute that imposes liability on the owners of bars and taverns, as well as those who serve alcoholic drinks to the public, for injuries resulting from accidents caused by intoxicated persons when the sellers or servers of alcoholic drinks contributed to the intoxication.

Respondeat Superior

A doctrine under which a principal or an employer is held liable for the wrongful acts committed by agents or employees

Strict Liability

Liability regardless of fault, which is imposed on those engaged in abnormally dangerous activities, on persons who keep dangerous animals, and on manufacturers or sellers that introduce into commerce defective and unreasonably dangerous goods.